"My dear brethren, there is no doubt that the
Son of God took our human nature into so close a union with himself that one and
the same Christ is present, not only in the firstborn of all creation, but in
all his saints as well. The head cannot be separated from the members, nor the
members from the head.

Not
in this life, it is true, but only in eternity will God be all in all, yet even now
he dwells, whole and undivided, in his temple the Church. Such was his promise
to us when he said: See, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. And so all
that the Son of God did and taught for the world's reconciliation is not for us
simply a matter of past history. Here and now we experience his power at work
among us.

Born
of a virgin mother by the action of the Holy Spirit, Christ keeps his Church
spotless and makes her fruitful by the inspiration of the same Spirit. In
baptismal regeneration she brings forth children for God beyond all numbering.
These are the sons of whom itis
written: They are born not of blood, nor of the desire of
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God. In Christ Abraham's posterity is blessed, because in him the whole
world receives the adoption of sons, and in him the patriarch becomes the father
of all nations through the birth, not from human stock but by faith, of the
descendants that were promised to him. From, every nation on earth, without
exception, Christ forms a single flock of those he has sanctified, daily
fulfilling the promise he once made: Ihave other sheep, not of this fold, whomit isalso ordained that I shall lead; and there shall be one flock and one
shepherd.

Although
it was primarily to Peter that he said: Feed
my sheep, yet the one Lord guides all pastors in the discharge of their
office and leads to rich and fertile pastures all those who come to the rock.
There is no counting the sheep who are nourished with his abundant love, and who
are prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of the good shepherd who died
for them.

But
it is not only the martyrs who share in his passion by their glorious courage;
the same is true, by faith, of all who are born again in baptism. That is why we
are to celebrate the Lord's paschal sacrifice with the unleavened bread ofsincerity and truth. The leaven of our former malice is thrown out,
and a new creature is filled and inebriated with the Lord himself. For the
effect of our sharing in the body and blood of Christ is to change us into what
we receive. As we have died with him, and had been buried and raised to life
with him, so we bear him within us, both in body and in spirit in everything we
do."

God
our Father,look upon us with love.You redeem us and make us your
children in Christ.Give us true freedomand bring us to the inheritance
you promised.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,one God, for ever and ever.

Prepared
by the Spiritual Theology Department
of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross